We all have heard about the
brave Laxmibai, Rani of Jhansi.Inspite of being a woman she dared to participate in the most manly of
events, which is WAR.She was the
most daring and capable of the leaders of the rebellion.Gangadhar Rao, the Maharaja of
Jhansi had died leaving behind a six-year old adopted son.Under the Doctrine of lapse, the British did not accept an
adopted son as heir to any throne.Thus
Lord Dalhousie refused to accept the adopted son as the prince.So, in 1854, Lord Dalhousie sent Major Ellis to bring Jhansi under
British rule.

Major Ellis appeared at the
court and read out an announcement declaring that the East India Company would
now rule them.The 17 - year old
Rani would now receive a pension and would be allowed to live in the palace.Even as the announcement was being read out the Rani had shouted, `Meri
Jhansi nahim dung'' (I'll never give up my Jhansi).

But, during the next three years
Rani Laxmibai was forced to live quietly in the palace on the pension she
received from the British.In June
1857 the soldiers of Jhansi rose in revolt.They captured the fort and killed the British officers.

In March 1858 the British
attacked Jhansi.The Rani herself
was in charge of defending the fort.As
the soldiers fired the guns, the women worked at repairing the walls hit by
enemy cannon balls.When the
ammunition ran out in the fort, they hurtled stones and logs at the enemy below.At last, the British captured the fort and killed the people inside.

However, the queen, dressed like
a man, slipped out of the fort during the night.She had with her a small band of soldiers and her adopted
son.She rode all through the night
covering a distance of 34 kms.In
the morning the British horsemen caught up with her.While her soldiers engaged them in hand-to-hand fighting, the
Rani escaped.

Meanwhile, after his defeat at
Kanpur, Tantia Tope had decided to join Rani Laxmibai.But before he could reach Jhansi, his forces were defeated.He now met the Rani and their combined forces challenged the British but
were defeated once again.With this
defeat the rebels seemed to have been completely crushed.

Rani Laxmibai and Tantia Tope
marched to Gwalior.There they won
over the personal troops of Scindia,
the ruler of Gwalior, and seized the fortress.The British army rushed towards Gwalior, for the ruler there was their
ally.On their way to Gwalior on 17
June 1858 they found Rani Laxmibai, leading a small band of soldiers, on
horseback.

The Rani and her soldiers were
all dressed alike in blue uniforms and white turbans. Close
to the Rani rode Mandarbai, a Muslim girl, her close friend.The British soldiers immediately joined the battle.It was a hot day and the Rani had been fighting for ten hours at a
stretch.At one stage, being
pursued by the soldiers, she urged her horse towards a narrow stream between
steep rocks but when she was about to cross the stream she heard a cry from
behind.She turned round and saw a
British soldier in the act of killing Mandarbai.In a flash she was back at the soldier, killing him with one stroke of
her sword.

In the meantime, another soldier
had crept up from behind her and struck her on head.With blood streaming down her face, she urged her horse to
jump the stream but the frightened horse would not move.At this moment a British soldier shot her in the chest and
she fell face forward across her horse.The
horse now leaped across the stream and took her to the spot where her soldiers
were.

`Don't let the British touch my
dead body,' she whispered.

Her soldiers laid her on a
haystack and as she breathed her last, set fire to it.When the British arrived they found only the ashes.Thus a great and brave lady met her end in a very courageous manner.But she left a legacy for others to follow, and that was, not to give in
till you breathe your last.